I'm about 7 hours in the single-player now and enjoying it...enough that I wish I was off of work and on my couch, controller in hand.

I'll likely give the multi a shot eventually, but I'm in no rush.

Impressions....as others have said, it's not revolutionary, but it is a good evolutionary jump in the series.

I like that Nico moves in a more realistic way. I see many complaints that he moves like a tank, but I disagree...he moves like an average human being and not a top-tier athlete on a coke binge...and it's a good thing. Same with the vehicles. You can outrun pursuers by 'driving'..not just stomping on the gas and aiming the car in the direction you want to go, but treating it like a racing sim-lite. With the amount of traffic on the roads with the physics at play, it encourages me to drive quite subdued compared to previous versions. I'm still hualing ass, but I don't use my car as a battering ram.

Mmmmm...Combat. I really like what they've done here. The cover mechanic took a bit to get used to, but I have fairly good control of it now and can place myself where I want. I don't like that I can only pop off one 'aimed' shot at a time with the pistol from cover...it's just irritating to a pistol packer like me. I do like the close in over the shoulder view when aiming, as well as the ability to lock on or free aim. I also like the amount of damage dealt, and the amout that can be taken.....good balance between fun and realism. Hand to hand can be rewarding, but because it's friggin' hard to take on more than 2 at a time...it's offputting at first, but after randomly attacking people on the streets I'm getting the hang of it.

I'm digging the story so far. The phone is nice touch, and a great way to keep track of what options you have when you are ready to 'do' something. The characters are all...well, characters. Not quite as over the top as prior GTAs, but all full of color. Cousin Roman is a lovable pain in the ass, Vlad a dirtbag, Little Jacob...is impossible to decipher, the rest all have quirks that are memorable. Nico is a great protagonist, best yet in GTA...he's approaching Gordan Freeman status for me. I 'like' Nico, and hope his story plays out with a 'happy' ending.

I think the city is amazing so far, tons of detail everywhere for both the buildings and the people. I've been spending more and more time on foot just to take it all in. The mini-games and taking your friends out are fun distractions...and a good time to just tool around checking things out. I think it looks fantastic...especially for a sand-box style game of this size. It's the little things...changing shadows, reflections, explosions, fire, sparks, water, fog, haze, lighting....all of it comes together really well. The textures aren't ultra-detailed, but everything is detailed. It's a case of being greater than the sum of it's parts.

There are a couple things that annoy me. I hate the map! I wish it was as easy to use and as informative as the one in Saints Row. The pistol from cover problem as mentioned above. Lack of clothing shops and resturants...there are not nearly as many as prior versions. Other than those...I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

You can go out the front and grab the original car, but it's ultimately more difficult, due to the road layout, than just following the mission's "script." For that reason, I think the idea that driving over an objective (versus walking over it) may have some merit. Because in that mission my main car that was parked on the objective was permanent, while the car I drove around back vanished.

One thing that is really starting to annoy me is Roman's voice. He sounds way too much like Shrek doing a Borat impression. I keep waiting for him to say something like. "But, I'm an Ogre, and I love Ogre titties! Very nice!"

I'm 3 or 4 achievements in now (not sure how many hours) and I'm enjoying the game. The first car you use (Roman's Taxi) is so bad, I understand where the complains come from. The more sporty cars that are around handle much better. Haven't had much practice yet with the gun combat. Overall I like the game, probably would say the same things as most replies here. I really haven't had a solid block of time to play and I look forward to this weekend when I can veg with it.

i have made it to the middle island now,where the city blocks are at least prettier(times square for one)

I tried rushing through the story a bit to unlock that island but I still haven't gotten to it. How far after unlocking

Spoiler for Hiden:

the safehouse up in the Bronx

do you get to Manhattan?

i was doing as mission called 'blow your cover' from Elizabeta,and at the end i had a pretty bad wanted level and just dived down a road to get away from the cops,it turned out to be the bridge 'northwood heights bridge at the top of the map leading to the second island,you have to take a guy called playboy x back home at the end,he lives at the top of the island....i didnt hear anything else telling me the island was now open...i did however read about it on the internet afterwards at TW@ internet cafe

Drunk driving is fun! I did it for the first time last night and managed to get Roman home before the cops could catch us without wrecking the car. I also got to hang out with Little Jacob, and man, I had to turn on the subtitles to understand what he was saying.I have yet to get anymore time with Michelle- she never picks up when I call her. Also, I got the cab service option from Roman, and the first time I call the cab it drives right by me! I ran it down, went to get in and it drove off again

Respect!

Logged

Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

Also, I got the cab service option from Roman, and the first time I call the cab it drives right by me! I ran it down, went to get in and it drove off again

Are you sure that it was one of Roman's cabs and not one of the regular yellow cabs?

nope, it was Romans cab. it had the blue marker on the map and another marker hanging over it as it drove by. I even tried hitting the left bumper to hail it. I figure it was a glitch, but couldn't try again as Roman kept on saying all his cabs were out. Now that I have a gun I'll make sure to shoot him if it happenes again.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

OK, after a couple days of play I'm ready to give some SP impressions plaing on the 360. (Sorry Hark and Ridah, timing was bad on the invites Tuesday night).

Graphics: Too dark at night, icky filters at day, much prettier than any other GTA by far, thanks next gen consoles.Driving: Man, they start you off in the worst car in the whole city. I have the Viper equivalent that I take cruising now, WAY better, basically everythnig is better than Roman's car.Hand to hand combat: Miserable, but mostly because I'm awful at it. I hope to never be without a pistol at the very least and if I get into a MP game that's melee only, I'm going to find a car and run everyone over.Gun combat: I haven't figured out the cover system, I always have trouble shooting out of cover. I do like the auto-aim features, nice that I CAN auto aim and still go for a head shot. I haven't played around with the free aim, when I wanna shoot someone I'm in a hurry so a half-trigger pull ain't happening.Story: Loving it so far. Very gritty and engaging, if a bit brutal

The only thing that annoys me in the game is trying to read the cell phone text. I have to lean over to get a good angle even with the large text turned on and contrast turned all the way up.

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It was this moment that took the movie from being a little ho-hum to “holy shit, did that shark just eat a plane!?”

Liberty City's a big place. Huge place. Lots of roads, lots of places to see, lots of ways to get lost. Lucky, then, that your woeful Liberty City navigation skills can be bailed out just as easily as your real-world navigation skills, with Google Maps helping set up an interactive map of GTA IV. On it, users can post the exact location of stuff like restaurants, ATMs, easter eggs and strip clubs, should you ever feel up to driving around Liberty City while checking the laptop perched precariously on your lap.

I'm avoiding it since there's no way to turn off the markers for the mission start points. You don't get any explicit spoilers unless you click on the icons, but I'd rather not know where everything is going to happen.

I'm avoiding it since there's no way to turn off the markers for the mission start points. You don't get any explicit spoilers unless you click on the icons, but I'd rather not know where everything is going to happen.

Hopefully they'll change that soon.

I agree, and also because it also makes it harder to see the map. I wonder if Rockstar will squawk about the use of the copyrighted map being posted on the web?

This song has been stuck in my head since Tuesday night. I wish I knew which song it is and who sings it.

Edit: Well, that was easy...Glukoza - "Schweine"

if you dial up Zits it'll tell you what song you are playing. I forget the number, but it's in the manual in one of the adds.

hmmm...appears you can even buy the mp3 using Zit. I may have to buy that one so i can annoy my neighbors with repeated listenings.

yeah, Amazon is hosting all the songs for sale. I tagged a couple of songs last night and while they showed up in game only one showed up on the Social Club site, and of course it was the one I already have from the soundtrack that came with the CE.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

Indeed, my experience of the game has been to find that Niko’s level-headedness, character and sense of justice (a skewed but consistent moral standard that reminds me of that of Anton Chigurh in the Coen Borthers’ latest, No Country For Old Men) has influenced the way I’ve been playing the game.

Whereas in previous iterations I wouldn’t think twice of car-jacking a vehicle to get from A to B as quickly and effectively as possible, in assuming Niko’s role I feel more comfortable hailing a taxi cab and paying a fare for the journey.

Besides the fact that viewing the city from the back of a cab is a lovely way to pass 5 minutes, the game is clever in its use of inconvenience as a deterrent to ‘unnecessary’ crime. Why not take a cab when, in doing so, there’s no risk of a police pursuit or the irritation of having another ‘death’ blighting your stat record?

Absolutely loving the game. Highlights so far are pulling a gun on someone in a diner for fun and him pulling a gun on me, causing me to have to kill him and a nice long police chase. I absolutely love the wanted circle mechanic I think it is great. Cinematic view is very cool as is the way the graphics blur as you go really fast.

Only downers for me so far are that it is a little dark even with the brightness turned way up, I might need to adjust my tv settings. Also I unable to get into multiplayer AT ALL (ps3 version) which is starting to annoy me now. Keeps saying unable to connect to game provider.

Absolutely loving the game. Highlights so far are pulling a gun on someone in a diner for fun and him pulling a gun on me, causing me to have to kill him and a nice long police chase. I absolutely love the wanted circle mechanic I think it is great. Cinematic view is very cool as is the way the graphics blur as you go really fast.

Only downers for me so far are that it is a little dark even with the brightness turned way up, I might need to adjust my tv settings. Also I unable to get into multiplayer AT ALL (ps3 version) which is starting to annoy me now. Keeps saying unable to connect to game provider.

I found turning up the contrast as opposed to the Brightness worked better for me. When I turned up the Brightness, white signs were way too way and I couldn't read their text. Turning up the contrast let me see better, but without that side effect.

You do realize there was a cop car that pulled up right down the street from there and the cop left it to go do something, right? I didn't have to kill a cop to do that mission.

I only saw a cop walking around, and then a cop car slowly creeping around the neighborhood. I followed him for a bit to see if he would stop, but then it was getting late for me to get ready for work, so I pulled in front of him in the freeway ramp and shot him. I then got in his car and drove as fast as hell to get out of the manhunt radius. The cop cars handle nice, btw.

Speaking of car handling, the car I have found to drive the best so far is the old muscle car. Looks like an old Dodge Charger. Handles like a dream.

I thought I was going to have more of a conscience problem with some of the crime in the game, and I gunned an innocent police officer down so I could get into his car and find a van full of TV's.

Actually, in that mission

Spoiler for Hiden:

If you walk up the street a cop comes driving down in response to a call, parks in front of a house and leaves the car door open while he goes looking out back. You can just get in the car.

It does seem that for every mission so far, there has been a way to get through without harming any bystanders or carjacking. It would be interesting to try to play the game through with minimal collateral damage. I have already run over bystanders (that's hard to avoid) and mistakenly carjacked taxis (didn't realize there were passengers), so I have kind have gotten an "oh well" attitude at times. I do try to steal parked cars instead of doing carjackings, though, if only to avoid getting a wanted level.